5 minute read
Tool theft
VAN TOOL THEFT BEWARE –
TRADEPOINT HELPS VICTIM
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Over the past year or so we have given extensive coverage to the problem of tool theft from vans but until now we haven’t had the opportunity to speak to someone directly affected.
This changed recently when eagle-eyed BiKBBI Communications Officer, Nicole Mercer, noticed on ‘Linked-in’ that one of the BiKBBI’s members, Tommy, had been robbed of his tools, from his van, on three different occasions in little more than a year! After discussing the matter with her colleagues at the institute, she contacted the friendly team at Tradepoint to see if there was something they could do to help. Nicole then contacted The Installer Magazine and put us in contact with Tommy’s boss, Irvine Bowie of INM Building Services who runs two installation businesses, one dating back as far as 2009 for the oldest one.
Based in Leicester and Essex, the company covers the entire UK and employs eight full time fitters who use several vans on a day-today basis that he supplies.
Irvine has throughout his entire business history had to deal with tool theft but he has noticed a definite acceleration in thefts in recent years and has unfortunately endured an increase in thefts recently.
Amazingly, they all happened to the same van in his fleet but in very different locations, one was in Woolwich SE London and the other two were in leafy, upmarket, Wimbledon and Canterbury!
Each theft had the same ‘MO’ (modus-operandi) in that it was broken into via the rear doors. Twice by having the handle and lock chiselled off and one gaining entry through a hole drilled in the back door. Speaking on the thefts Irvine said. “Since we began our businesses we’ve probably had in excess of £25,000 in combined tool thefts, to be honest it’s demoralising. The police don’t really want to know as they are understaffed and have ‘more serious’ crime to deal with. People say don’t leave your tools in the van but that’s not always possible when our guys are staying in hotels when away on projects and then what if you live in an apartment where it’s not easily accessible to carry all your tools every morning and evening? He continued, “Besides, the three recent robberies were in broad daylight! The theft in Canterbury was when the van was parked in a large council car park as the site Manager wouldn’t let them park on site but surprise, surprise the council’s CCTV camera didn’t cover the particular area where the van was parked and the other two robberies happened when parked in a main street where the van was overlooked by houses.”
Nicole Mercer, Communications Officer, BiKBBI
Tommy being presented with his new tools courtesy of Tradepoint
Do the vehicle manufacturers do enough?
“Absolutely not!” states Irvine, “It’s incredible really. They must know what’s going on out there and I’m sure it’s not just the UK that suffers, so why do they not make their vans more secure? For instance, if you were buying a new car for the same price as a good van you would expect state-of-the art alarm systems etc. far superior to what they currently include on vans. In my opinion they are failing their business customers.”
So how did Tradepoint become involved?
The Tradepoint team acted when they heard of Irvine’s plight, especially as the most recent robbery effected one of his younger installers Tommy, whose wife is about to give birth to their first child. Absolutely all of his tools were taken and he cannot afford to replace them which means that he cannot work and therefore his livelihood taken from him.
They have big hearts at Tradepoint and have lent the installer concerned a full range of Erbauer power tools to ‘test’ for them for a month or two which he will be able to keep permanently on the proviso that he reviews them for the company. We intend to publish his findings for our very own report on this brand of power tool. Better still, Tradepoint donated a £300 voucher for him to replace all of his hand-tools.
So it’s a very sad story but with a happy ending thanks to Tradepoint. I think the last word should go to Irvine Bowie who said “We are extremely grateful to Tradepoint for their generosity towards our installer, it’s rare these days that company’s think about the human side of business and it restores your faith somewhat.”
Speaking on behalf of Tradepoint, National Accounts Manager, Duncan Heenan commented, “We heard of this lads plight as
Tommy with his new tools courtesy of Tradepoint
Duncan Heenan, National Accounts Manager, Tradepoint they are good Tradepoint customers and of course, we were all really sympathetic, I mean, losing one lot of tools is enough but three times and with a baby on the way too! So we felt that we wanted to help. The timing was pretty good as we wanted someone to review the practicalities and benefits of the Erbauer range or power tools so we stepped in and offered Tommy the opportunity to test and review them and presented him with a voucher which covered the immediate replacement of all his hand tools.”
One final question to Irvine – what piece advice would you give to other tradesman with vans?
“Well we can’t change the world and are stuck with this situation so I would do all you can to fortify your existing fleet/van; for example, we are in the process of investigating the practicality and costs of having stainless steel panels fitted to our van doors.”
www.trade-point.co.uk
